Apparatus for joining successive strip lengths



Oct. 22, 1940. D. A, M ARTHuR 2,219,049

APPAI ZATUS FOR JOINING SUCCESSIVE STRIP LENGTHS FiledJune 7, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Oct. 22, 1940. D. A. MQARTHUR 2,219,049-

APPARATUS JOINING SUCCESSIVE STRIP LENGTHS Filed June '7, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 'INVENTOR Oct. 22, 1940. MCARTHUR 2,219,049

APPARATUS FOR JOINING SUCCESSIVE STRIP LENGTHS Filed June 7, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR 06L 1940. D. A. MOARTHUR 2,219,049

' APPARATUS FOR JOINING SUCCESSIVE STRIP LENGTHS Filed June '7, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 F vi IILWH I IJH Patented Oct. 22, 1940 PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR JOINING SUCCESSIVE STRIP LENGTHS Donald A. McArtlinr, Warren, Ohio, assignor to w The wean Engineering Company, Inc., Warren, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application June 7, 1939, Serial No. 277,826

Claims.

This invention relates to a mechanism for joining successive coils of metal strip, e. g., hot

rolled steel strip for continuous processing such as pickling or the like;

5 The continuous treatment of strip in coils is greatly facilitated by joining successive coils end "to end. Numerous methods of so joining coil ends have been employed, viz., electric flash welding, gas welding, stitching, or the like. The practice has been to line up the coil ends to be joined by eye. This requires considerable time and is not very accurate. As 'a result, successive strips are joined at a slight angle, instead of in perfect alinement, and this-causes dimculty in the cold rolling. The amount'of time required to line up the coil ends by eye is particularly objectionable because it frequently necessitates stopping the travel of the strip through the pickling tanks or other processing apparatus.

I have invented a novel apparatus for quickly alining the ends of successive coils of strip preliminary to the joining thereof as by welding. In a preferred form of the invention, I provide a plurality of pairs of side guides mount- 3 ed adjacent the path of travel of the strip and adjustable toward and from the center-line of said path; The side guides are adjustable for various widths of strip by means of a motordriven adjusting screw. I also provide means for 0 advancing and retracting the guides through a short distance, after they have initially been set for the desired width-of material, to engage the material to aline it for shearing and welding, and then free it for continuous movement through th pickle line or other processing apparatus.

Other novel features and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following detailed description which refers to the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment. In the drawings:

Figs. 1 and 1-A together constitute a plan view, largely diagrammatic, illustrating the apparatus usually employed at the entrance end of a pickle line with the invention incorporated therein;

Figs. 2 and 2A together constitute a view partly in section along the center-line of the apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and 1A, and partly in elevation;

Fig.3 is a side elevation of the side guides and operating mechanism therefor;

Fig. 4 is an end view showing the appearance of the structure of Fig. 3 from the left;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along the plane -.0! line V-V of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along the plane of line VIVI of Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken substantially along the plane of line VIIVII of Fig. 3, showing parts in elevation; 5

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken along the plane of line VIII-VIII of Fig. 7; and

Fig. 9 is a view partly in section and partly in end elevation along the'line IX-IX of Fig. 8.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the 1 invention is particularly adapted for use with the apparatus usually installed at the entering end'of a pickle line and including a coil conveyor l0, an up-ender Ii having a tilting coil holder l2 thereon whereby coils disposed on the convey- 15 or ID may be moved therealong, turned on their sides, and rolled into a processing uncoiler [3. A roller table conveyor l4 extends from the exit side of the uncoiler |3 for supporting the strip emerging therefrom as it passes forward through 20 other apparatus to be shortly described and thence to the pickle tanks or other processing equipment.

A squaring shear i5 is disposed adjacent the u'ncoiler i3 for removing the irregularly shaped 25- ends of the coils C. as'received from the hot mill.

A welder 16 is next in line and serves to join the ends of successive coils after they have been sheared by the shear I 5. A flash-trimmer l1 adjacent the welder l6 removes the burr or flash 30 formed during the welding. A stitcher I8 is also installed in the line of travel of the strip and is provided with clamping shoes I9. Pinch rolls 20 are provided to pull the strip through the apparatus just described and deliver it to a looping 85 pit 2| whence it is withdrawn by a pair of pinch rolls 22 through guide and leveling rolls 23 for delivery to the pickling tanks. The apparatus described so far is conventional and no detailed description thereof is required for an'understanding of the structure and operation of the invention.

In order to aline the ends of successive coils with the common center-line of the apparatus already described, before squaring the ends of the coils or welding them together, I provide guide mechanisms 24 and 25 on the entrance side of the shear l5 and similar mechanism 26 on the exit side of the shear. I further provide similar mechanisms 21 and 28 on opposite sides of the welder l6 and a similar mechanism 29 on the entering-side of the stitcher I 8. The guide mechanisms are all substantially identical in construction and arrangement except that those on the welder Ii are inverted relative to the others, because of the welder construction.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of one of the guide mechanisms as installed on the welder and shows the appearance of the other guide mechanisms inverted. The inverted arrangement of the welder guide mechanisms, however, is merely a matter of convenience and is not necessary in all types of welders.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 3 through 9, a guide carrier or beam 39 extends across the conveyor [4 having feet 3| at each end adapted to rest on suitable supports 32. Ways 33 are formed on opposite sides of the carrier 3B and guides 34 and 35 are slidable on said ways, being secured thereon by gibs 36. The guides are substantially c-shaped and have wearing blocks 31 therein adapted to engage the edges of the strip on the table l4.

Equal and opposite movement of the two guides is obtained by means of rack bars 38 and 39 slidably disposed in the carrier 30 meshing with a pinion 49 journalled centrally therein, the rack bars engaging the pinion on'opposite sides thereof. Bearing rollers 4| adjacent the pinion 40 hold the rack'bars in engagement therewith. As clearly shown in Figs. 8 and 9, each of the guides has a lug 42 which is received in a notch near the end of one of the rack bars so that the guides and rack bars move together, the two guides moving simultaneously and in opposite directions at all times.

The carrier 39 has a lateral extension 43 at one end thereof provided with ways on which a base plate 44 is slidable. A motor and speedreducer unit 45 is secured to the base plate 44 and the low speed shaft thereof is engaged by a friction coupling 46.

A screw shaft 41 extending longitudinally of the carrier 36 has its inner end slidably journaled in a bearing 48 formed in the carrier 30. The screw shaft is threaded through a nut 49 disposed between lugs 50 and 5| formed on the guide 34. The other end of the screw shaft is provided with a thrust bearing 52 and is engaged by the coupling 46. The bearing 52 is disposed in a seat 53 depending from the base plate 44. It will be apparent that when the screw 41 is driven by the motor reducer unit 45, the nut 49 causes the guide 34 to travel along the ways 33, the direction of motion depending on the direction of rotation of thescrew shaft. Any movement of the guide 34, furthermore, is effective to cause an equal, opposite and simultaneous movement of the guide 35, by reason of the engagement of the racks 38 and 39 with the pinion 40.

The motor reducer unit 45, screw 41 and nut 49 constitute means for adjusting the guides 34 and 35 to the width of the material passing over the table l4. A fluid-pressure cylinder and piston 54 is secured to the carrier 30, the piston having a connecting rod 55 pivoted to the slidable base plate 44 at 56. By supplying fluid under pressure to opposite ends of the cylinder 54 successively, the base plate is shifted along its ways. This movement of the base plate and motor reducer unit is communicated to the guide 34 through the screw 41 and nut 49 and the guide 35 is actuated by movement of the guide 34.

The cylinder and piston 54 thus serve, after the guides 34 and 35 have initially been adiusted in accordance with the width of the material b ing handled, to advance the guides into engagement with the edges of the strip and retract them therefrom to aline the strip with the center-line of the shear, welder, etc. during the operation thereof and then free the strip for rapid travel from the uncoiler to the looping pit and pickle tanks.

Assuming that the first coil has been started through the line, it continues to unwind and move forward over the table l4 until the trailing end appears. The pinch rolls 20 are then stopped with the trailing end of the first coil on the entering side of the shear l5. Meanwhile the surplus strip accumulated in the looping pit 2| is continuously fed forward to the pickle line. If the guides 34 and 35 of the several guiding mechanisms have already been adjusted to the width of the strip by operating the motors 45, the. cylinders 54 of the mechanisms 26 and 21 are actuated to bring their guides into engagement with the edges of the strip, thereby alining the latter with the center-line of the shear IS. The fluid pressure cylinders 54 operate the guides very rapidly and at a fixed maximum pressure which can be so chosen that the strip will not be buckled by engagement of the guides therewith.

While the trailing end of the first coil is firmly held in alinement with the center-line of the apparatus by the guides of mechanisms 26 and 21, the shear I5 is operated to make a squaring crop. After operation of the shear, the guides are retracted and the pinch rolls 2!! are started and the trailing end of the first coil is advanced to proper position in the welder l6. When the strip has been stopped with its trailing end at the proper point, the guides of mechanisms 23 and 29 are actuated in the manner just described, causing them to engage the strip edges at the same points in relation to the strip end as at the shear and aline the strip with the welder. It will be understood that the shear, welder and other apparatus are all set on a common centerline so that when the trailing end of coil No. I has been engaged by the guides of mechanisms 25 and 26, it is centered accurately on precisely the same center-line as that on which it was centered during the shearing by shear l5.

During the advancement of the trailing end of coil No. I to the welder and its centering therein, the second coil is placed in the uncoiler l3 and its leading end started therethrough and along the table I 4. When the leading end has passed slightly beyond the shear l 5,'the guides of mechanisms 24 and 25 are caused to engage the strip edges, thereby centering the strip accurately for crop shearing. After operation of the shear, the guides of mechanisms 24 and 25 are retracted and the leading end of the second coil is then advanced to the welder and stopped in proper relation to the trailing end of the first coil. The guides of mechanisms 26 and 21 are then actuated to re-center the leading end of the second coil with the common center-line. The ends of the two coils to be welded are thus accurately centered on the common center-line of the several units and in proper position for welding.

When the weld has been completed, the guides of mechanisms 26, 21, 29 and 29 are retracted and the welded joint connecting the two coils is forwarded to the flash-trimmer II for removal of the burr, after which the entire length of the coil is fed into the looping pit by the pinch roll 20, the guides of all the guiding mechanisms being retracted. When the trailing end of the coil repeated.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that the apparatus described causes the ends I of successive coils to be accurately centered for shearing and again centered on the same center-line for welding. This overcomes the difficulty experienced heretofore from welding coils together after alining them solely by eye. It also avoids the delay involved in the latter, since the operation of the guides is very rapid. .It has already been pointed out that the fluid-pressure cylinder for actuating the guides into engagement with the strip edges has the advantage of high operating speed and definite control of the maximum pressure so that buckling of the strip may be avoided.

While I have illustrated and described but a preferred form of the invention, it will be recognized that changes in the construction and arrangement of the apparatus and in the operating procedure thereof, may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims. For example, it is possible, in certain cases, to dispense with the guiding mechanisms 24 and 26 as the mechanisms 21 and 28 may be utilized to aline the trailing end of the coils preliminary to cropping.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for alining strip coils end to end on a supporting table preparatory to squaring and welding, comprising a beam extending transversely of said table, side guides adapted to travel along said beam, means for traversing one of said guides across the table, means actuated by movement of said one of said guides for efiecting equal, opposite and simultaneous movement of the other guide, a motor for actuating said first-mentioned means to cause substantial movements of said guides and means for shifting said motor bodily to cause minor movements" of said guides.

2. Apparatus for alining strip coils end to end on a supporting table preparatory to squaring and welding, comprising a beam extending transversely of said table, side guides adapted to travel along said beam, means for efiecting equal and simultaneous movement of said guides toward and from each other, power means for actuating said means to cause substantial movements of said guides, means mounting said power means for limited movement, and means effective to move said power means, thereby effecting minor movements of said guides.

3. Apparatus for alining strip coils end to end on a supporting table preparatory to squaring and welding, comprising a beam extending transversely of said table, side guides adapted to travel along said beam, and means for shifting said guides toward and from each other including,

guide-adjusting means, a motor connected to said adjusting means, means mounting said motor for limited movement, and means for moving said motor to effect slight movement of said adjusting means.

4. Apparatus for alining strip coils end to end on a supporting table preparatory to squaring and welding, comprising a beam extending transversely of said table, side guides adapted to travel along said beam, a screw for adjusting one of said guides along said beam, means for communicating movement of said one of said guides to the other guide in reverse sense, a motor driving said screw, and means adapted to efiect limited movement of said motor longitudinally of said screw.

5.. Apparatus for alining strip coils end to end on a supporting table preparatory to squaring and welding, comprising a beam extending transversely of said table, side guides adapted to travel along said beam, a reverse-motion mechanism connecting said guides whereby movement of one causes an equal and opposite movement of the other, an actuating means connected to only one of saidguides efiective to adjust the guides throughout their entire range, and a single power means directly connected to only one of said guides and effective to cause only minor adjustments thereof.

DONALD A. MCARTHUR. 

